New eateries try to resist recession

Broadway has gotten brighter over the past several months.

Vendors of thin-crusted pizzas, chicken tandoori, and paninis have moved in to fill the vacancies left behind by the slew of restaurants wiped away by the recession.

In the spring, Broadway kissed several newer and older joints goodbye—eateries such as Royal Kabab & Curry, Tokyo Pop, Empanada Joe’s, Tomo Sushi & Sake Bar, and Caffe Swish left the neighborhood. These losses only added to the nearly epidemic state of vacancies on the avenue from 96th Street up towards Columbia’s campus at 115th Street.

And though students returning from summer break were greeted with at least four fresh food joints that have filled some of these storefront holes, two months into the fall season, some of these struggling entrepreneurs have said that the battle they are fighting is just as rough as the recession blow that killed many of their predecessors.

“Restaurant business is currently the best it can be in these times,” said Carlo Jurerdi, owner of Angelina Pizzabar located on 105th Street, which replaced Tokyo Pop this summer. He expressed cautious optimism for his business, saying, “We are growing slowly, but we are still growing.”

A few blocks southward, Tulu Ahsraful, manager of a new deli, Green Cafe on 98th Street, expressed a lot more concern with the ongoing difficulty of turning a profit when the patronage remains steadily low. “People are not buying that much. If people are not buying, business is not going so well,” he said.

Ahsraful did express gratitude for his location, though. “Our neighbors have been very friendly, very helpful,” he said.

Elliott Dweck, a retail specialist from Besen Retail who has represented vacant properties in the area, said that times are in fact changing, and this is the right period for smart startup chefs and proprietors. “We see this as a golden opportunity for retail now because the markets are more volatile, so now is the right time for people to expand if they have the right business sense,” he said.
But Gleeson Valadarez, a manager of Aangan Indian Cuisine—which replaced Royal Kabob & Curry on 103rd Street—said that the timing was pretty terrible.

“When we opened our business two months ago,” he said. “It was not a good time to open a business.”

Dweck predicted a brighter future for some of these new restaurants—if they are prepared. “New restaurants have a good chance of survival because they will do more diligence and homework before jumping in to open a restaurant,” he said.

And some of these owners said that they have been working hard, by creating attractive deals that they hope draw locals and create loyal patrons out of them.

“We have a recession special, and we are trying to grow with the community,” Jurerdi, from Angelina, said, describing his lunch special, wine specials, and other discounts. “Almost all of our friends are out of trade, so the discounts that I get, I pass onto the customer,” he added.

Valadarez said that the management at his restaurant is very experienced and, for that reason, they are doing fine. “My boss has been in the business for 30 years,” he said. “His father was a chef. He knows the dealers who supply things at a reasonable rate, so he knows what he is doing. He gets a good bargain for the products at our restaurant.”

Dweck, adding to his confidence, said that landlords have been loosening their grip, which gives well-equipped restaurants an opportunity to enter the neighborhood and actually survive.

“People who are getting laid off see opportunity in the retail business, and restaurant owners have the expertise to open a new business,” he added. “Food Network and gourmet chefs have put a rock star status on food, and people want to attain that rock star status.”